An all too familiar knee injury forced him out of the game and onto the sidelines for more than 10 months.
Two operations and a lot of hard work later and he is ready to resume his career with the Ospreys – back on French soil.
Watkins is set to finally make his comeback in the Ospreys’ European Challenge Cup tie in Montauban on Saturday.
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The 29-year-old became Wales defence captain under Warren Gatland and was a Grand Slammer in 2019, scoring a try in the win over Italy.
Watkin was also a member of the 2019 World Cup squad that finished fourth in Japan and also featured in the 2021 Triple Crown and Championship winning season.
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Just like Cardiff's Mason Grady, his return to full fitness will be good news for Wales head coach Steve Tandy as he builds towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Not that Watkins is getting ahead of himself. He is just delighted to be able to get back into action for the Ospreys before thinking about anything else.
“I've been unfortunate to pick up lot of knee injuries in my career and it has been pretty difficult over the past 10 months because I had a couple of set-backs. So this is quite a big week for me,” said Watkin.
“It has been tough and I’ve had to lean on my teammates and my family to get me through the tough times.
“I don't think people realise how daunting it can be when you have to go through the same things, day-in, day-out during your re-hab.
“You see the boys training and going away for games, while you're pretty much stuck in the gym all day.
“I was fortunate, I had a good group with me at the start - Rhys Davies and Rhys Henry and then during the last bit, Morgan Morris.
“It’s the players who get you through the rehab.”
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Watkin went through a similar ACL injury early on in his career which forced him to miss 14 months.
He has now had five operations during his playing day and missed more than two years of action.
“When I did the original injury my goal was to be back for the start of this season.
“Unfortunately, I had to go out and have another surgery because I had some issues in the knee,” added Watkin.
“That was really tough to take considering how well I'd done with the first rehab. It was massively important for me to play before the end of the year and getting a couple of games under my belt around the Christmas period is exciting for me.
“I'm still only 29, which is still pretty young, and I've got a lot of experience. I just want to get back playing and find a bit of form and see what happens.
“I'd love to get back in the red jersey one day and don't want that game in Paris to be my last one.
“I'm still massively motivated to do that but the main point is just to get back playing, enjoy it and stay fit.
“There are a lot of things going on in Welsh rugby at the minute, but the tightness of the group at the Ospreys is one thing that doesn't change.
“We’re a team that always looks after each other through the highs and the lows – we’re always there for each other.”
